Ex-Obama Supporter Artur Davis To Speak At GOP Convention

Former Rep. Artur Davis (pictured), a longtime Democratic congressman from Alabama who switched to the Republican Party this year, was a supporter of PresidentBarack Obama’s ascent to the White House in 2008. Having switched parties, Davis has now become one of presidential hopeful Mitt Romney’s more visible surrogates and a GOP media darling. Davis has been tapped by officials to speak at the Republican National Convention later this month, marking quite a remarkable and sudden change in politics and location.

In a telephone interview with the Washington Post on Wednesday (August 15), Davis announced that he would have a slot to speak during the convention between the dates of Aug. 27-30. Davis champions himself as a voice for the people who are disappointed with President Obama’s performance – a key tactic used by Romney’s campaign of late. “The one thing that I can bring to the table is to be something of a voice for that group of people,” said Davis to the Post.

Davis added, “President Obama — Senator Obama — ran on two broad themes. “One of those broad themes was reunifying this country. And another broad theme was turning this economy around. I’ll certainly be talking about those two failures.”

Davis served in the House of Representatives as a Democrat between 2003 and 2011, endorsing and proudly supporting Obama during the Democratic Convention in 2008. Davis did his best to mimic Obama’s success by running for Alabama’s gubernatorial seat in 2010. He would be crushed in the primary by Ron Sparks, a far more liberal candidate than Davis.

Davis unwisely distanced himself from Black voters and the Democratic Party, seeking to woo the many conservative White voters in the state. The tactic would fail him miserably, with Davis declaring that he would not seek office again.